Into the Woods
by amehfosho
Summary: Sirius and Hermione have been fighting non-stop, so Dumbledore takes the problem into his own hands and leaves them stranded in the middle of a forest together. Full summary inside, OOTP & HBP SPOILERS IN FULL SUMMARY.
1. Chapter 1

_OOTP & HBP SPOILERS IN THE FULL SUMMARY_

_Summary: Set in the summer after Hermione's sixth year. Hermione is 17. AU, Sirius is alive and so is Dumbledore. Basically ignores everything in HBP. Sirius and Hermione have been fighting since the Trio arrived at Grimmauld Place a week earlier. Finally, in an attempt to make the two get along, Dumbledore curses them to live like Muggles for the remainder of the summer in the middle of nowhere. In the month that follows, the two set aside their differences as they try to survive in the wilderness. Chaos ensues, of course. _:D

_Edit: Forgot the disclaimer. It's not really needed, but I like to be safe._

Disclaimer- I don't own the Harry Potter series. I am not making money off of this. I only own the plot of this story. Hooray!

* * *

Into the Woods

Chapter 1

"Why must you ruin everything, you childish little--"

"It was just an accident. It's not a big deal, Hermione!"

"Not a big deal? _Not a big deal?_ You ruined my potion!"

"I just wanted to see what it was! You're in my house, I think I should know what kinds of potions are being brewed in my own--"

"If you wanted to know what it was, you should have asked me! But instead, you had to touch it! Did you even stop to think about the consequences? Oh, of course not, you're _Sirius Black!_"

"You're overreacting! You can just make it again--"

"MAKE IT AGAIN? I spent _months_ working on that potion, I can't just _make it again!_"

"Months? That's a brilliant waste of time--"

_**SLAM**_

Hermione slammed the door in the man's face in a huff, then turned back to her botched work. _Three months._ She sighed and willed the tears that were collecting in her eyes not to fall. Why did Sirius have to be so... so stupid? Living with him was like babysitting a child, for Merlin's sake. Did he even consider that the potion might be _dangerous_? Of course not, he never thought, just acted.

For a year, Hermione had been working with Professor Snape to find a potion that would make the drinker insusceptible to Unforgivables for a short length of time. And three months earlier, she had found what she believed would end their search, and began to brew the complicated potion. But she hadn't found the potion in a book. It was one of her own making, and she was proud of it. And now, her hard work was completely ruined. She would have to start from the very beginning.

This thought made the tears finally fall. She bent down to pick up the cauldron that Sirius had accidentally knocked onto the floor, her tears mixed with the deep red substance that was splashed across the wooden floor. If she only had the money, she would buy her own home, just to get away from all the chaos Grimmauld Place held. In fact, today's fight was the fourth between herself and Sirius since she arrived earlier in the week. "_At this rate, by the end of the summer, I'll have gone crazy," _she thought, "_If I haven't already."_

She had gotten onto her hands and knees to wipe up the mess when there was a knock on the door. "_If that's you, Sirius..." _she thought angrily.

"Come in," she called without turning from the monstrosity on the floor.

The door creaked open and Harry Potter cautiously walked in. He knew Hermione was in a bad mood and wasn't sure what she'd say or do to him if he brought up Sirius. He had heard the fight. Almost everyone had. Harry, the twins, Ginny, Ron, and Mrs. Weasley were all relaxing in the sitting room when Hermione's shrill voice cut through the silence like a knife. Not long after, Sirius Black had stomped down the stairs as quietly as possible, so not to wake his mother's portrait, and entered the kitchen without a word to any of his guests. Harry had been volunteered by the Weasley family to check on Hermione, mainly because everyone -- even Mrs. Weasley -- was terrified of Hermione's wrath.

"Hey 'Mione." he said softly.

"Oh, hi Harry." she replied, clearly relieved that it was him.

Harry inhaled deeply and slowly, then said, "I heard you and Sirius yelling from the sitting room."

"Oh," Hermione replied. If Harry had heard, then the whole house must have heard. "_Great."_ she thought morosely.

Seeing that she wasn't going to scream at him for bringing it up, he continued, "Yeah, it's a miracle that Mrs. Black's portrait didn't fly open again."

His comment was met with silence, save the continuous sloshing sound Hermione made with her rag as she cleaned.

"Hermione," he plowed on, "I know Sirius can be a little... aggravating sometimes, but cut him some slack, he's been through a lot."

The sloshing stopped and Hermione froze.

"_Uh oh,"_ Harry thought, and he slowly began to back his way toward the door. "_I shouldn't __have said that, I shouldn't have said that,_" he thought. However, Hermione spoke before he could exit the room.

"Cut him some slack?" Hermione said, her voice unnervingly soft.

"Er...I didn't...I meant--"

"You're right."

Harry's eyes must have doubled in size.

"W-what?" he asked, clearly shocked at her change in demeanor.

"You're right," she repeated, "If this constant fighting is to ever stop, one of us will have to give in. And seeing as Sirius is much too immature to back down, it will have to be me."

"Oh," Harry said, now pleasantly surprised, "Good. I don't want your summer to be filled with fights. I'm glad you're willing to step down."

"Mmmhmm." was all she had to say in response and she began to wipe up the potion again. Seeing that the conversation was over, Harry slipped out of the room, the happiness of having escaped one of Hermione's bad moods alive clouded his common sense.

"_Of course, everything will work out," _he thought, "_Hermione always was the mature one."_

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Later that night, Hermione, Ron, and Harry sat in the small sitting room waiting to enter the kitchen. An Order meeting was taking place, and it was postponing dinner. The three teens sat impatiently, their stomachs growling. Soon after, Fred and George joined them, looking incredibly voracious as well. None of them spoke though, because they were busy straining their ears to hear even a scrap of what the adults were talking about. But it seemed that they knew the young people would attempt to eavesdrop, and were speaking in hushed tones. As soon as Ginny descended the stairs, the door burst open showing Mrs. Weasley.

"Supper in five," she said to the six teenagers before heading back into the kitchen, looking abnormally tired.

"Did I miss anything?" Ginny asked after her mother had disappeared behind the door.

"Nope," Ron replied, "We couldn't hear a thing. Wish mum hadn't taken all of the Extendable Ears."

"Don't worry, little bro. The new batch should be done in a week," George said, smiling mischievously.

"I wonder if Snape's going to be eating with us." Harry wondered aloud.

"Maybe he is," George stated, "He hasn't come out the door."

"I hope he isn't," Fred said, smirking, "I may lose my appetite."

Fred's comment earned a laugh from everyone except Hermione, who gave him a glare.

"Come on Hermione," Fred said, "You can't deny that he's a greasy old bat just because you've been working with him."

"Oh, shut up," she snapped. She stood abruptly and crossed into the kitchen.

"What's her problem?" asked George, staring at the door Hermione had just walked through.

"She's probably still mad about Sirius," Ron said before following Hermione into the kitchen, in search of food.

Fred and George shrugged simultaneously as the four remaining joined the rest in the bustling kitchen.

When Harry walked in, he saw that Professor Snape wasn't there. He had somehow slipped out under their noses. Not that he was complaining, though.

Harry took a seat next to Hermione, who had seated herself at the end of the table, directly across from Sirius. He noticed that Sirius didn't seem to be paying any attention to Hermione, but was in an animated conversation with Lupin. Hermione, however, was staring intently at Sirius, with an odd glint in her eye. It was actually quite scary. Harry looked around the table to see that only Tonks, Lupin, and Dumbledore were joining the residents at dinner.

Just then, Mrs. Weasley set a large bowl of steaming onion soup in front of him. He picked up his spoon and began to eat as quickly as he could, glancing at Hermione every so often, only to see that she had barely touched her food and was still glaring at Sirius.

"So," he started, trying to pry her negative attention from his godfather, "Are you gonna talk to him after supper?"

"Harry, don't speak with your mouth full," she replied simply, never taking her eyes off of Sirius.

Knowing he wasn't going to get any more out of her, he turned to Ron and was about to speak to him when there was a huge CRASH from the end of the table.

Harry saw it out of the corner of his eyes: Sirius had fallen to the floor, it seemed as though his chair had just collapsed underneath him. As he fell, Sirius had grabbed the table for support, and had knocked his bowl onto himself. He was on the floor covered in scalding hot soup. And almost as soon as he had hit the ground, he jumped back up, swatting madly at himself in a fruitless attempt to rid his skin of the hot liquid.

"SHIT SHIT SHIT!" he yelled, dancing around as though it would soothe his burning skin.

Everyone at the table was silent with shock, everyone except Hermione. She let out a small giggle, causing Harry to turn to her. His eyes were wide as he whispered, "Wh-...You?".

Hermione only smiled in response, then turned back to Sirius, who was now glaring at the people seated around the table. When his eyes rested on Hermione and he saw the smile on her lips, he pointed dumbly at her.

"What in the name of Merlin is wrong with you? Why in the bloody hell would you even do that?" he bellowed. She remained silent at his outburst, but continued to smile, which seemed to anger him further.

"Stop smiling!" he screamed, his eyes bulging in disbelief. At this, she laughed. He looked mental.

His face contorted into an evil sneer, "You little--"

"I'm sorry Sirius," she finally spoke, "But it's no big deal. It was only an accident, of course."

With that, she stood and strolled out of the room, leaving behind eleven astonished diners, one of whom was covered in onion soup.

"COME BACK HERE!" he yelled as he made his way toward the door that Hermione had left through. However, Dumbledore stood before he could make it out of the kitchen.

"Sirius," he said calmly. His voice alone was enough to stop Sirius in his tracks. Sirius sighed deeply and he slowly turned to face the old wizard. There was a short moment of silence as the younger man caught the breath he had lost to his fury.

"Sirius," Dumbledore continued, "this is the fourth time in a week that I have had to scold you for your actions, I am sure you know how I feel about the fighting between Miss Granger and yourself."

"_Sir,_" Sirius began, squeezing as much poison into the word as possible, "It isn't _my fault._ You saw what she did--"

"Still," Dumbledore cut him off, "You are the older person, and should be more mature when dealing with such problems, am I correct?"

Sirius said nothing, so Dumbledore went on.

"I would like for you to go and retrieve Miss Granger from her room where she most likely is now, and bring her to the kitchen. I would like a word with both of you."

Sirius gave Dumbledore a phony smile, which was returned with a genuine one, then turned to leave the room. He ascended the stairs as slowly as possible, mumbling to himself about the old, crack pot wizard he had left in the kitchen.

"Shouldn't have to... she's the one... not my fault... loony fool... in front of _everyone,_" he mumbled to himself, sounding much like a petulant child.

When he reached the door to Hermione's room, he stood for a moment, his hands in his pockets, doing as much as he could to delay the inevitable moment.

He slowly raised his fist and poised it to knock when he heard a small sob from inside the door. Sirius froze for a second, then hurriedly put his ear against the door.

She was crying. _Why was she crying?_

Sirius pressed his ear harder against the door, but couldn't hear her any clearer. "_Maybe I could just push the door open a lit--"_

_**THUNK**_

Sirius flew back from the door and almost tumbled down the stairs. He turned his head wildly in an attempt to locate the source of the noise, but couldn't. It sounded like it came from the next landing up anyway, where the twins were staying.

He turned back to the door and knocked immediately, as though doing so would erase the fact he had tried to eavesdrop on her. Sirius heard her shuffling around before she called, "Who is it?" Her voice was slightly strained.

"Me. Sirius," he said through the door.

Silence. Then, "What do _you_ want?"

Sirius sneered, "Dumbledore wants to talk to you in the kitchen. Just thought I would tell you." He pivoted around and quickly found his way back into the kitchen. Dumbledore was alone, sitting in the chair that Hermione had occupied earlier. Sirius made to sit in his usual chair, only to remember that is was in splinters on the floor.

"Damn girl," Sirius said, not even bothering to speak softly in the presence of the Headmaster.

"Shut up Sirius."

He jerked toward the door frame to see Hermione standing there, looking royally pissed. He noticed that her eyes were red and puffy as she moved to sit on Dumbledore's right. His eyes narrowed and he followed her lead, but sat to the left of Dumbledore, and across from Hermione.

Unlike dinner, now Sirius was staring at her and she was avoiding his gaze. He was sending her looks that seemed to say, "Look at me, I dare you."

Dumbledore silently observed the two and their interaction, seeming to be pondering something. Minutes later, neither of the two combatants had spoken, but had remained still, exactly as they had been when they had first sat down.

"I think I have decided what to do about you," Dumbledore began, but was cut off by Sirius.

"I don't mean to be _rude_," he said, though his tone suggested that he didn't care if he sounded rude or not, "But Hermione and I are adults, and we don't need you to interfere."

"Even so," Dumbledore replied, "I cannot have the two of you impeding on the Order's work. Do you not realize how hard it will be to join together to defeat Voldemort when two of our own are constantly at each other's throats?"

When neither of them spoke, Dumbledore spoke again.

"I have thought about it, and have come to the conclusion that since the two of you cannot _behave_ like adults on your own, the best thing I can do is make both of you get along."

Sirius and Hermione took a moment to exchange a nervous and confused glance, and Dumbledore took his chance. He waved his wand over Hermione, then Sirius, then in between them, and had it back in his robes before either saw him move. He leaned unusually far back in his chair and observed them.

Though they didn't see him cast the spell, they certainly felt it.

"What was that?" Hermione asked worriedly, speaking for the first time since she sat down, "It feels like... my insides have vanished."

"Ah, only a mere side effect," Dumbledore replied airily, causing Hermione to pale, "The sensation should be gone within the hour."

"What did you do?" Sirius asked, his deadly soft voice was rival to Snape's.

"We'll see you two in a month or so," he replied vaguely.

"What-" Sirius cried as he slammed his hands onto the table as he made to stand. Hermione grabbed onto the table in the surprise of Sirius' sudden movement.

Instantly, Hermione felt a tugging sensation in her stomach and she plunged forward with the table and Sirius.

* * *

_A/N: So, I know Hermione would've cleaned the mess with her wand, but I needed her to clean it manually. I don't think it's a big deal, honestly._

_I'm not sure if anyone is OOC. I mean, _I _can see them saying these things, but please tell me if you think their dialogue/monologue was inaccurate._

_There may have been some grammar mistakes, sorry, I'm not exactly an English professor. _:D


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you to __**Telmerethiel, Karma's Slave, CancerChic, Harry Potter 101, kay10197, Sirius Obsessed, teeteeswirls, SILENTLYSLYTHERIN86, Fiona-Potter, Head Girl of Gryffindo**__**r, **__**XxGOTHIC PANDA NINJAxX, badbrunette412, daphnec123, bone perfection, AnEleaticsEmu, MMirazBA, wolfie22, dat panda bandit, jaekl09, **__and, __**laplam.**_

_And anyone else who reviewed/favorited/whatever, if I forgot you._

_I can't tell you how great it is to get such a response!_

_And I'm sorry this took a little while to post, I was literally writing it about 2 sentences at a time for quite a while._

* * *

Chapter 2

Hermione thumped down onto hard, damp ground. There was a loud thud, then a crash to her right.

"Bloody hell!"

Hermione turned in the direction of the voice to see Sirius attempting to stand and rubbing his bum. Broken bits of of wood from the table were scattered around him. A thin trickle of blood ran down his face from under his dark hair. But Sirius didn't seem to notice this.

"Damn old man," he cursed. His eyes scanned his surroundings before he continued, "Why are we in a forest?"

Hermione then noted their environment for the first time. They were surrounded by a thin forest; trees were spread out evenly for miles in every direction. When she looked toward the sky, she could only see little slivers of blue through the green treetops. She furrowed her brow. "_Blue sky?"_ she thought, _"But it has to be seven in the evening, at the latest."_

She turned back to Sirius to see him rushing toward her. A small scream escaped her lips as his hand clenched around her small wrist.

"Be quiet and let me concentrate," he barked.

She wrenched her arm from his grasp just as he began to turn on the spot, and sent him a deadly glare.

"Excuse me," she scolded, "First of all, you will not touch me like that."

Sirius made to interrupt her, but she shoved an accusing finger in his face to stop him.

"Second, you will not talk to me like that," she continued, "I am not an ignorant school girl, Sirius, and I expect to be treated fairly."

He eyed her for a moment then turned away.

"Sorry," he mumbled under his breath, barely loud enough for Hermione to hear.

"Thank you," she said, just as quietly.

"I was only going to apparate us home," he said, his voice a little louder.

"Did you not realize I can do it myself?" she asked, eying him bitterly.

If he heard her, he didn't seem angry. He merely shut his eyes and spun on the spot. However, he didn't vanish as he should have.

His eyes opened and he looked around confusedly. Then, he tried again. And again. And again. Only the warm sound of Hermione's laughter stopped him.

"What?" he said, a little too sharply. _"Women and their bloody mood swings," _he thought.

"You...look...like...a...ballerina!" she gasped out between giggles.

He stared at her blankly, sure that she had lost her mind. "I'm not a banana!" he cried, obviously unfamiliar with Muggle ballerinas.

Her laughter quickly grew louder at his obliviousness, and she had to grasp her sides to keep from falling to the ground again.

"Sirius!" she cried, not able to say anything else.

And on she went. Sirius wasn't sure how long he stood there watching her shake uncontrollably, but he was relieved when she finally calmed down enough to string together a sentence.

"Sirius," she began, wiping the tears from her eyes, "Thank you. I haven't laughed so hard in ages."

"Uh, sure," he replied, still unaware of the humor she had seen. He was usually quite the jokester, but as far as he was concerned, this wasn't the time to be laughing. Sirius couldn't apparate, no matter how many times he had tried, and that was in no way a funny situation.

"Hermione," he said suddenly, "Try to apparate."

"What?" she asked, her brow furrowed.

"Just do it!" he said impatiently, "Please." he added at her glare.

She obeyed and twisted on the spot, but stayed visible.

"That can be right," she said softly, biting her lip.

"Of course it's not right," Sirius said, smiling softly, "I thought you were smart." His smile disappeared when Hermione drew her wand and pointed it at him.

"Hermione," he began, knowing full well that she was a brilliant witch, dangerous when armed, "I didn't mean it, I--"

"_Confringo!"_

Nothing happened.

"Well, that proves it," she said, looking from the wand in her hand to Sirius' blanched face, "We can't do magic."

"What?" he asked, breathing heavily, "That doesn't make any sense."

"Dumbledore must have done it. That's why I felt that emptiness in me before," she stated as though it were the most obvious thing on Earth.

Sirius was, if possible, even more confused. "That's impossible. I've never heard of a spell that does that."

"Apparently, it is possible," Hermione said thoughtfully as she placed her wand in her pocket, "This is Dumbledore we're talking about."

Sirius searched his mind for an explanation, an excuse, a reason why she could be wrong.

"Ah!" he exclaimed, looking triumphant, "If he knows of a spell to take a wizard's powers away, why hasn't he used it against Voldemort?"

"Well, it would obviously be very dangerous for him to try to cast a spell on him for no apparent reason," Hermione said smartly, "Professor Dumbledore would probably only use it if they were facing each other in battle. And he must have only learned it recently, or he would have used it before."

Sirius sighed. "How do you know so much?"

Hermione smirked and declaimed, "Well, I didn't waste my school days, unlike you, always in detention."

He sneered in response, but said nothing. Sirius moved to the remains of table on the ground and sat down on the biggest piece, twiddling his thumbs in deep thought. An awkward silence fell over the two of them. It seemed so long since their fight that afternoon. Hermione realized that neither of them had forgiven the other, yet they were both conversing, quite civilly for the two of them.

"I can't believe it!" Sirius moaned angrily, breaking the silence, "I knew that old bugger was insane, but this is so..." He trailed off, evidently too furious to conjure a complete sentence.

"Reckless?" Hermione said as she leaned against a nearby tree.

"Reckless, idiotic, dangerous, all of the above," he replied sharply.

"I think this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black," Hermione pointed out, referring to Sirius' constant devil-may-care attitude.

"Do you realize how annoying you can be?" he said with mock-sweetness as he rubbed a scuff on his boot.

"Why are we even fighting?" Hermione asked wearily, "This is entirely senseless."

"You started it."

"And you prove my point," she mumbled. Hermione disconnected from the tree and wandered around, searching the immediate ground for anything that could be used as shelter. "_We're obviously going to be stuck out here for a while, might as well try to survive."_ she thought.

"Where are you going?" Sirius snapped as Hermione slowly drifted away from where they had landed.

"I'm looking for something to use as shelter," she said without looking at him.

"You really think we're going to be out here for that long?" he asked. She turned around.

"Well," she began, "You heard Professor Dumbledore, didn't you? He said, 'We'll see you two in a month or so.'. I'm not going to take my chances. But you can sleep on the cold ground, if you'd like."

"Just kill me now," he mumbled to himself as he silently agreed with her, and stood to join her in her search.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

An hour later, they had only found a few large sticks they could use to prop a covering up. Realizing that they wouldn't be able to find a suitable covering, Sirius volunteered his coat to cover them. They headed back to the table in silence, until Sirius spoke up.

"This will probably make you mad," he started, pausing to observe Hermione's reaction. When her expression went unchanged, he continued, "But I heard you crying earlier." Hermione froze for a moment, then resumed walking as if nothing had happened. "What made you cry?" Sirius finished.

Hermione was quiet for a few seconds, her lips pursed. "I don't think that's any of your business." she said, her voice higher than usual. Sirius decided wisely not to pursue it any further, and dropped the subject.

But Hermione's mind was reeling. Why _had_ she been crying? She had gotten revenge on Sirius, but instead of celebrating, she climbed the stairs, shut herself in her room, and cried her eyes out. She was ecstatic, then suddenly, depressed. Even slightly guilty. Hermione couldn't explain it, and until now, she hadn't been able to think about it. After what had happened after the conversation with Dumbledore, her mind was too full to deal with anything else. She pushed the memory of that night to the back of her head as the pair stopped at their destination.

Hermione set her sticks down next to Sirius, who was already on the ground trying to shove one of his collected sticks into the ground, and looked to the sky again. It took her a moment, but she finally found the sun; it was a tiny speck a little off from the very center of the sky. It was just barely shining through the canopy. Since Hermione didn't know which direction was which, she concluded that it was either 2 in the afternoon, or 10 in the morning.

"Professor Dumbledore must have sent us far away from London," she said as she watched Sirius work with interest. He was actually quite handsome, she couldn't deny it. But his immaturity outweighed his attractiveness, in her mind. She knew that even if she did have a chance with him, she wouldn't take it. There were much more important things for her to deal with than boys, anyway.

"What makes you say that?" Sirius asked.

"Well," she said, turning to the sky again, "It was around seven o'clock in the evening when we were at Grimmauld place last, but here, wherever we are, it's about midday."

"I didn't notice," he replied.

She laughed shortly. "How could you not notice?"

"I don't know, I guess the shock of it all... Are you gonna help me with this, or are you gonna just stand there and talk?" he said, looking up at her impatiently.

"I wouldn't be of much help, I'm not very strong," she said, and she looked down at her feet. She was a little ashamed. Without magic, she was almost useless, and she hated it, "Why don't I just go look for food?"

"Whatever," Sirius replied, picking up another stick.

Taking his answer to mean, "Sure, Hermione! That would be spectacular!", Hermione ventured back out, remembering a berry bush she had seen earlier. She actually didn't know what kind of berries they were, but was sure if Sirius could identify them, she could remember if she had read anything about them being poisonous or not. Almost an hour later, she found the bush, and noted that there were more around another tree a few meters away. Using her shirt as a type of basket, she picked almost half of the red berries from the bush, hoping that it would be enough.

As she slowly walked back to their "campsite", Hermione heard a rustling near a tree to her right. She moved closer, her curiosity was stimulated. Suddenly, a small rabbit hopped out from behind the tree, and after catching sight of Hermione, dashed away. While watching the bunny, Hermione's heart dropped. _"We'll need meat eventually," _she thought morbidly, fully dreading the day when she would have to kill a poor animal. Sure, Hermione ate meat at home and at school, but it was different knowing that an animal would die from her hand. Hermione hurried from the scene, suddenly anxious to get back to Sirius.

When she returned, Sirius had finished their makeshift tent. It seemed barely large enough for two people, and not very protective.

"It'll keep out any rain," Sirius said, seeming to read her mind, "But if a bear comes..."

"I brought berries," Hermione cut in, not wanting to think about what would happen if a bear came while they were asleep.

"Just berries?" he asked, disappointment filled his voice. Hermione scoffed.

"Well, you can find the food next time if you want," snapped Hermione.

"Fine," he said, sounding weary, "What kind of berries did you get?"

"Well," she began, "I'm not sure. I was hoping you could tell me."

"Something you don't know?" he asked, smiling evilly.

"I can't know absolutely everything, Sirius," she yelled, "Just tell me what kind of berries these are!"

He walked to her, still smiling, much to the annoyance of Hermione, and looked down at what she had collected.

"I'm not sure," he said, "I'm not a berry expert either." To Hermione's surprise, Sirius grabbed a handful and shoved them in his mouth.

"Sirius!" Hermione cried, almost dropping the berries, "What if they're poisonous?"

"Well, we can't know unless we try them," he shrugged, "They're lingonberries anyway, at least that's what they taste like." He grabbed another handful.

"Don't be such a pig," Hermione said as she tentatively took a few for herself. Together, they finished half the berries, deciding to save the remaining for the next day.

By now, the sky was beginning to darken. Hermione decided that it must have been 2 o' clock earlier, not 10 o' clock. Based on the sun's position, it was now around 5 pm. She also learned which direction was west, as the sun always sets in the west. Hermione and Sirius were resting on the table top, watching the crackling fire that Sirius had made with some of the wood splinters. All Hermione could think about was how uncomfortable she would be trying to sleep inches away from Sirius. She had only been kissed once when she was dating Viktor, and it was just a peck. Never in her life had she been as close to a boy as she would be tonight, and tonight, she would be close to a _man._ The thought greatly unnerved her.

"We should probably go looking for a stream or something tomorrow," Sirius said, breaking Hermione's thoughts. She mentally slapped herself. _"Water, how could I have forgotten that we need water?"_

"You can do that," Hermione said shortly, "After all, you'd probably be _much _better than me at finding a stream, since you're so smart."

"You're right," he said and he shrugged, causing Hermione to go red with anger.

"You're such a...a..." Hermione said.

"A...? C'mon, you can do it Hermione!" he said, pretending to be excited.

"Oh, fuck off!" she screamed. With that, she stood and stomped to the tent, leaving behind a mildly shocked Sirius.

"Never heard that one from her before," he said to himself, as he heard her words again in his head. He smiled as her voice ran through his mind.

* * *

_I know that's probably a strange way to end this, but I wanted the next part to be in a different chapter._

_Review?_


End file.
